According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the desert state of Nevada is exploring the possibility of allowing interstate online poker with other jurisdictions that permit it. Rather than being pigeonholed into only playing with opponents from Nevada, residents could fire up the virtual felts and compete against players in any other state that allows internet gambling, like Delaware for example.

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The lack of liquidity has long been one of the cornerstone arguments in favor of Federal online poker legislation in the United States. However, if Nevada were to team up with other U.S. states to offer games, then perhaps liquidity would not be such a major concern. The Review-Journal article explained, “Conceivably, the interstate gaming compacts would allow Nevada-based internet poker websites to accept bets from gamblers from states with similar interactive gaming laws, considerably growing the size of the potential player pool.”

The measure is Assembly Bill 5, which according to PokerNews, “is expected to be heard after the legislative session begins on Feb. 4.” Currently, Delaware and Nevada are the only two states that permit licensed internet poker, although no legal sites have gotten off the ground yet. New Jersey lawmakers rubber-stamped an internet gambling bill in recent weeks that now awaits the signature of Governor Chris Christie.

Under Assembly Bill 5, Nevada’s Governor is charged with deciding what compacts to enter. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Nevada has a population of 2.7 million, while Delaware is at 900,000. If you add New Jersey’s 8.8 million residents, you get a total of 12.4 million, which is roughly one-fifth the size of the entire country of Italy. California, another state exploring online poker legislation, has a robust population of 37.6 million and could add even more fuel to the internet gambling fire.

All signs point to Federal regulation of online poker being a non-starter. The Review-Journal shared, “In a December research report to investors, Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon said as more states adopt online gaming regulations, it will become less likely that Federal online poker bill will make it through Congress.” Remember that Congressional internet gambling proponents like Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA, pictured) departed Capitol Hill at the end of 2012.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and UIGEA champion Jon Kyl (R-AZ) were rumored to be bringing an online poker bill to light to close the 2012 Congressional session, but no such measure came to pass and Kyl has now left the Senate. According to the Las Vegas news outlet, newly minted Senator Dean Heller (D-NV) has “vowed to bring the bill back before the new Congress this year.”

What do you think? Can online poker survive in an interstate format? Comment here and let us know.

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